Thiruvananthapuram: After what happened during Ockhi cyclone in November 2017, the state government has decided to leave nothing to chance. The progress of the depression is considerably slow when compared to Ockhi, and is also not expected to graze the Kerala coast, but still a high alert has been declared along the entire coast. Fisherfolk have been asked not to go fishing till March 15. The Coast Guard has deployed six ships and four airplanes to bring back fishermen who had already ventured out into the sea. District collectors have also been told to prepare relief shelters in coastal areas.
Though the formation was safely away from Thiruvananthapuram at 2 p.m. on Tuesday, it inched closer by evening on the day. The speed also increased from a benign 20 kms per hour to 40-45 kms pr hour. “If the speed crosses 50 km per hour the formation will be called a deep depression or cyclonic storm,” said IMD Thiruvananthapuram director Sudevan. The Ockhi formation had achieved a speed of 64 kms per hour and was branded a “severe cyclonic storm”. The speed refers to the velocity of the spiral (cyclone) around the epicentre of the depression. “The spiral has a radius of 30-35 km and beyond it, the wind speed falls,” Mr Sudevan said.
The latest depression that has formed two days ago in the southeast part of Arabian Sea, off the Sri Lankan coast, is moving northwestwards, almost parallel to the Kerala Coast, initially at a benign speed of 20 km per hour. Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan said there was no prediction that the tropical storm would hit the state. When the IMD put out a bulletin at 2 p.m. on Tuesday, the depression was 350 kms south-southwest of Thiruvananthapuram. Three hours later, it moved closer, the formation was 280 kms away from Thiruvananthapuram. “It is very likely to move north-northwestwards and intensify into a deep depression during next 48 hrs,” the bulletin said. “The latest depression is unlike the Ockhi formation that developed into a severe cyclonic storm rapidly, in two days,” said Mr Sudevan.
“We have been tracking this formation for the last two days and its progress has been found to be relatively slow. We also expect it to die down soon. However, the coming two days are crucial,” he added. At the moment, only a ‘signal 3’ danger sign has been put up in ports and harbours across the state; the ‘signal 3’ is a low-intensity warning that is raised when ports are said to be in potential danger from the depression. “District collectors have been asked to set up relief shelters in coastal areas and hand over the keys of the shelters to tahsildars,” the Chief Minister said. But they have been asked to spare halls where examinations are being conducted. All coastal taluk control rooms have been asked to function 24x7 till March 15.
